"We talked about it; we haven't played a No. 1 team ever [in our careers]," Nealy said. "Oklahoma State last year, we played them and they were No. [7], but it didn't feel like that. This is the No. 1 team. We've played the No. 5 team, which was cool. But this is big-time, and we need to come out there and shock the world."

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel celebrates after his team scored a touchdown against Auburn during the second half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

He's not just a good runner "for a quarterback" — he looks like a damn punt returner when he breaks out of the pocket. He's not just a good passer "for a running quarterback" — he's got touch and arm strength and timing to burn. You can call him Johnny Football. The SEC will call him Johnny Headache.

• USA Today's experts unanimously expect wins for Alabama, Oregon and Notre Dame this week, but two of the eight panelists foresee Kansas State falling to unranked TCU.

• ESPN.com SEC bloggers Edward Aschoff and Chris Low both take LSU to bounce back with a win over Mississippi State and Alabama to comfortably beat Texas A&M. Pac-12 bloggers Kevin Gemmell and Ted Miller agree that Oregon will smash Cal but are divided on the outcome of the Oregon State-Stanford matchup. Over in the Big Ten, Brian Bennett likes Penn State to upset Nebraska.

• College Football Talk has Alabama topping Texas A&M by a score of 35-14, Stanford pulling out a 24-20 win over Oregon State, and LSU beating Mississippi State 26-14.

• Stewart Mandel of SI.com takes Syracuse to edge Louisville in his upset special but expects favorites Alabama, LSU and Kansas State to take care of business this week.

What they're saying

Southern California head coach Lane Kiffin takes off his headset during the second half of their NCAA college football game against Colorado, Saturday, Oct.20, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

He's cheating, is my point. Or his program is. And since the chain of command at USC football starts with Lane Kiffin, he's responsible. He's using ignorance as his defense on some of this stuff, but that's a life raft that won't float on these seas.

"My thought on that is real simple: It's got nothing to do with us," Kelly said. "We worry about what we can control. ... What another team does or doesn't do, I don't really know. But it doesn't affect us. They can do whatever they want. It's not a big deal to us."

• Like Alabama, LSU faces a challenge in putting last week's epic battle in the bayou behind them. With another tough matchup against No. 21 Mississippi State on deck this week, LSU wide receiver Jarvis Landry tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the Tigers are focused on moving forward following their heartbreaking loss to the Tide:

"We may get a BCS bid, we may not. We have to control the things we can control and win out hopefully, make a statement so that we have a chance at the best bowl we can get.

"It's just bitter. But it makes no sense to dwell on it or it affects you the next week."

• John Canzano of The Oregonian suggests that Oregon State should consider canceling its season finale against Southland Conference school Nicholls State in order to avoid a potential hit to their strength of schedule ranking and their position in the BCS standings:

We've heard of coaches scheduling strategically in the offseason. But what Oregon State has is a rare opportunity to schedule wisely during the season itself. An opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted.

• After some recent near misses, No. 24 Rutgers has another chance to win the school's first Big East title this season. The Scarlet Knights are intent on getting the job done this time around, senior linebacker Khaseem Greene tells the Newark Star-Ledger:

“I just know this team is going to be different,” said Greene. “There’s something special about this team that I feel this year that I haven’t felt any other year.”

Heisman talk

Oregon running back Kenjon Barner scores one of his five touchdowns against Southern California on Saturday. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman)